The United States and Great Britain established in 1818 joint claim over the Oregon Territory - the region north of Spanish controlled Upper California up to the southern boundary of Russia's Alaska Territory at North latitude 54°40'. By the late 1830's this arrangement was beginning to fall apart. In the 1840's the expansionist Democrats, including their 1844 presidential candidate, James Polk, claimed the entire region for the United States. Their expansionist desires were expressed by Polk's famous campaign slogan, "Fifty-four Forty or Fight!" The slogan also became a rally cry for Americans desiring to settle the territory. Following Polk's election, the dispute was resolved by the 1846 Treaty of Oregon, which struck a compromise that fixed the U.S./Canadian boundary at 49º North.

This simple map is filled with detail including Indian villages, locations of salt works, mines, missionary schools, forts and the Great Desert. It shows the large Arkansas Territory which extends above Texas. A large inset, Continuation of the Western Territory on a Reduced Scale, covers the region of present-day Oregon and Washington and shows the U.S. claims into British Columbia and the Boundary by Treaty with Spain 1819. The unnamed Rocky Mountains are partially depicted, naming Longs Peak and Fames Peak. In the Northwest the watershed is well defined according to the explorations of Lewis & Clark in the region labeled Indian Country. Fancy lettering and flourishes in title with two distance scales below. The imprint of "I.T. Hinton & Simpkin & Marshall" dated Feb. 1, 1832 has been trimmed away on this example. Engraved and printed by Fenner Sears & Co, London.

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Condition: B+

Issued folding, now flat, with three fold separations and an edge tear at right that have all been professionally repaired with archival materials on verso. The bottom margin has been trimmed close to neatline.